Contents

History[edit]

Maruchan Logo Small

Toyo Suisan Kaisha, Ltd of Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1953, is a leading consumer packaged foods company in Japan. Toyo Suisan’s effort to become an international food company brought them to the United States, where, in 1972, they established Maruchan USA. At first, Maruchan USA was only a marketing company, importing and distributing ramen from Japan. After operating for five years as a distributor of imported products, Maruchan built its own manufacturing facility in Irvine, California and in 1977 began producing Maruchan brand ramen at the Irvine factory. Since 1977 Maruchan has grown steadily and has become an industry leader in North America, alongside other instant noodle brands such as Nissin Top Ramen and Sapporo Ichiban.[2]

Name[edit]

Maruchan is a Japanese word composed of two parts, maru and chan. Maru literally means round, as in the shape of a ball or a happy child’s face. In Japanese, round has a connotation of friendliness. The word chan is an honorific suffix, used affectionately for a child or for a person one finds endearing.[3]